The Days of a Man 1:1885 



dress I made very informal, as my installation took 

 P^ aCQ m tne m iddle of the year and at a time when 

 affairs seemed at "dead low ebb." Nevertheless, I 

 spoke of the institution as the most valuable of 

 Indiana's possessions, not yet a great university, 

 not yet even a real university, but the germ of one, 

 its growth being as certain as the progress of the 

 seasons. Having seen its vitality thoroughly tested 

 in times of trial, we had reason to be most hopeful. 

 For myself I added the following in all seriousness: 



It has been said reproachfully of Thoreau that with a genius 

 which might have directed great enterprises, he preferred in- 

 stead to lead a huckleberry party. In this matter I have al- 

 ways sympathized with Thoreau. It is easier to find leaders 

 in the battles of the world than pioneers in the field of science. 

 Science demands singleness of purpose, and scientific men have 

 always been loth to leave their own pursuits to accept duties 

 and trust from the State. Your congratulations may wait. 

 Croesus once said to a friend who flattered him: "Call no man 

 happy until he is dead." Congratulate me, if at all, when I 

 have dropped the harness and returned to my native pastures. 



One of my first duties was to secure money for 

 new buildings from the legislature then meeting in 

 money Indianapolis. The time was short and needs were 

 pressing, the University's annual income of $35,000 

 being pitifully inadequate and the two halls already 

 erected quite insufficient. But I at once encountered 

 two distinct obstacles, the one grounded in sec- 

 tarian jealousy, the other entirely personal to 

 myself. 



In the legislature a group of members, incited by 

 certain advocates of denominational schools and led 

 by an able lawyer, John R. Gordon of Greencastle, 

 were making a vigorous effort to close the State 

 C 290 ] 



